Sermon Video: An Unexpected Hunger and an Unexpected Feast - Luke 9:10-17

What is faith?  Is it believing the unknown, the improbable, the impossible, the absurd, or something else?  In Luke 9:10-17 Jesus is once again confronted by large crowds which he ministers to by teaching them about the kingdom of God and healing the sick.  On this occasion, that ministry template is put to the test ironically by the success of the ministry itself.  Because of the enthusiasm of the crowds for what Jesus could do for them, this large crowd had followed him into a remote place where there was neither food nor lodging available.

            At this point in the narrative, the question becomes: What do we do about this new need of the people?  Is it our responsibility because we’re involved with them already, or do we need to keep our focus on our original mission?  Such questions routinely confront churches and charities because problems such as poverty are certainly multi-faceted.  Along with the deciding if a new problem should be addressed by an organization is the connected question of whether or not the resources exist to take on a new responsibility.  For the disciples, both questions seemed to be easily answered as a “no”.  The focus of their ministry thus far has clearly been teaching and healing, why change now?  Likewise, this massive crowd’s need is so far beyond their available resources that no logical solution to the problem can even be attempted. 

            Jesus, in response to their conclusion, tells the disciples that they should solve the problem.  What?  How is that possible?  As the disciples contemplate the seemingly impossible, Jesus takes the five loaves and two fishes that they do have, gives thanks to his Father for them, and begins to pass them out to the crowd.  At some point, early on in this process, the disciples would have been aware that a miracle was taking place.  When everyone has eaten, the disciples gather up a basket-full of leftovers each, a physical reminder of the over-abundance of God’s power.

            So, what is faith?  Is this episode an example of God asking you to trust in the impossible or the absurd?  Only if you don’t recognize the power of God at work in our world each and every moment of each and every day.  When God demonstrates his power through a miracle it isn’t a moment where God decides to take action, God is always acting.  If we truly saw the world as it is, our list of things which we think to be impossible would be far shorter.

            The lesson for the Church today is one of trusting in God for the results.  We must take what resources we have, even if they seem far too meager, and put them to work for the kingdom of God to try to solve whichever problems confront our communities.  To believe that God can do the improbable is far from crazy, it is looking at our world, seeing the history of God’s actions in it, and trusting in his love.  We must do our part, we must trust, let God worry about multiplying our effort for his kingdom.

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Sermon Video